After spending half a year in Albany, Mike Lindsley is back on the radio in Syracuse. He starts a new show Monday called "The Mike Lindsley Show: In The Cell with M.L." on The Score 1260, broadcasting weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m.

Lindsley's new afternoon drive shift means the "Doug Gottlieb Show" is being bumped out, much to the delight of Syracuse basketball fans who've heard Gottlieb criticize Orange coach Jim Boeheim on numerous occasions. Lindsley, a Central New York native who graduated from Paul V. Moore High School in 1998, will be a sharp contrast from the CBS Sports host with his local perspectives.

"This is Syracuse's sports show as much or more than it is mine," he said in an interview.

The newly-titled show, chosen for his nickname "ML," will be a sports talk and call-in show. Topics will include local sports teams, such as the Syracuse Chiefs baseball team and the Texas Bowl-bound Orange football squad, and "a spice of everything else."

"I think people make the mistake around here of criticizing hosts when they don't talk SU sports 100 percent of the time," he explained. "I know Syracuse fans who are Giants fans or Sabres fans or Red Sox fans or Yankees fans or whatever fans. This is a sports culture here too, beyond Syracuse athletics. But SU sports will always be No. 1 as it should be."

Listeners can interact with the show by calling in, tweeting him at @MikeLSports, or posting comments on The Score 1260's Facebook page, he said.

His time slot will go up against another local sports show, "Upon Further Review" hosted by Chris McManus and Steve Infanti on Galaxy-owned ESPN CNY. The latter station, heard at 97.7 FM and 1200 AM in the Syracuse area, brands itself as "The Pulse of the Orange" and boasts frequent guests like SU coaches Mike Hopkins, Gerry McNamara, Adrian Autrey and Boeheim.

Cumulus Syracuse Operations Manager Tom Mitchell, on the other hand, calls The Score 1260 (WSKO-AM) the "voice of the Central New York sports fan." In a press release, he welcomed Lindsley to the competition as giving the audience "a choice of local afternoon sports shows."

"I don't look at it as competition," Lindsley said. "Are we all competing? To a certain extent, sure we are. But this isn't millions of listeners versus millions of listeners, like New York City. I look at it as doing the best possible show I can. I have always built my show on four things: knowledge, content, guests and organization. I know if I do those four things, the show will work and be great, even for those who don't like me or my style or the way I sound."

Lindsley admits he's never had Boeheim on his show, but would be happy to have him on. He also hopes to build a relationship with Scott Shafer, who took over the SU football team just before Lindsley moved to a different market.

Lindsley took a job at ESPN Radio 104.5 The Team (WTMM-FM) this past March, but was fired in August after airing an interview with a man claiming to be former New York Yankees outfielder Shane Spencer. The imposter "admitted" to using performance-enhancing drugs and criticized Derek Jeter, sparking national controversy.

According to The Albany Times-Union, Lindsley and producer Brian Cady were fired Aug. 30 from the Townsquare Media-owned station, two and a half weeks after the incident.

"It was a learning experience for everyone involved but I did nothing wrong," Lindsley said.

"I'm excited about The Score 1260's game plan with guests because I know there isn't a chance of it happening here because the proper protocols will be followed by myself and the team. I'm open to talking with listeners about anything. They know where to find me or how to get a hold of me. But that is done and over with."

But why return to Syracuse and not move on to another city? Lindsley said he had other offers but "nothing really made sense."

"My dream is to be on the air every single day. The Score had my old slot open so it was just a natural fit. Plus, there are other personal reasons for moving back, like loved ones. I know a lot of people think I moved back for Timber Banks, Mario's Bakery's chocolate chip cookies and Syracuse basketball," he added with a laugh.

Lindsley's also got a lot to forward to here in 2014, including a possible deep run in the NCAA Tournament for SU basketball.

"Syracuse is legit," he remarked. "The 2-3 looked like they were in mid-season form in Maui. As long as they defend very well, they are always in it. I think the key to the team is Trevor Cooney making 3-pointers, which opens up the offense and takes the pressure off of Tyler Ennis and the rest of the team and opens up lanes for C.J. Fair and the big guys to get open looks at the basket."

"I have never in my life seen, this early, a Syracuse basketball team's individual player success depend so much on what everyone else does... Last year, you could have MCW or Triche have a bad game, but Fair bail[ed] the team out or James Southerland save[d] the day with 3-balls. Not this year's team. Everyone has to be great for another guy to play well. But that's a beautiful thing. And I think Jimmy and the staff are already doing a fantastic job growing the youngsters."

Lindsley predicts SU will reach at least the Sweet 16 this spring ("I don't care who they play, that zone is brutal to face in March") and offered some other expectations for the next year:

"The upcoming NBA Draft will be one of historical proportions, Tiger Woods will win a major, the Blackhawks will repeat as Stanley Cup champions, Derek Jeter will retire after 2014 and The Score 1260 will have a kick-ass year."